March 29, 2023 - It is no secret that Croatian olive oil is among the best in the world. And it excelled yet again at the annual competition in New York, with only Italy and Spain, the largest global producers of olive oil, winning more medals.

"Bravo Tom, Bravo Eva!" congratulations were directed at the Croatian olive oil producers, winners of the first prizes at the NYIOOC 2023, report Agroklub/Poslovni.

"Here at last, Oblica," replies Tomislav Duvnjak, head of the St. Ivan Olive Oil Center in Vodice. He doesn't hide his satisfaction that his oil from the local variety is this time decorated with gold. Last year, at this same competition, his extra virgin oil St. Ivan Oblica won the silver medal.

Duvnjak is otherwise known as the man who two years ago encouraged olive growers from Dalmatia, Croatia's largest olive-growing region, to organize a shipment of oils to New York for the world's largest and most prestigious olive oil competition.

Since then, they have recorded the greatest successes. Last year, in competition with 1,244 samples from 28 countries worldwide, Croatian olive oil producers, mainly from Dalmatia and Istria, won 96 awards (69 gold and 27 silver).

"We are third in the world. It is the biggest success so far", commented Duvnjak.

Only Italy (158 medals) and Spain (128) are ahead of Croatia, countries that are also the largest producers of olive oil in the European Union, but also in the world. In terms of olive oil quality, Croatia is followed by the United States of America (94 medals), Greece (79), Turkey (65), Portugal (35)... This year, 1,100 samples from the northern hemisphere countries arrived at the NYIOOC, of which 126 oils came from Croatia (61 from Dalmatia).

With Duvnjak's St. Ivan Oblica, an award also went to the Eva Marija Levantinka brand owned by OPG Eva Marija Čurin from Gdinj on the island of Hvar. It is an extra virgin oil that is characterized by its fruitiness. This OPG was founded in 1997 and is located in the favourable area of Gdinj, on the eastern side of the island of Hvar. The estate comprises five hectares of specialized olive groves with 1,000 trees and overlooks the Adriatic Sea (225 meters).

"All the fruits are hand-picked in the first half of October and processed within 24 hours using a cold extraction system", points out Eva Marija Čurin, who has already proven herself by winning several awards at domestic and international competitions for olive growers and oil producers.

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As is the case with many Mediterranean countries, the relationship between olives and the Croatian coast runs deep, it is a story that would take all the time in the world to tell and it boasts a plethora of different personal meanings for many individuals and their families.

Olives and the coast go hand in hand and the entire practice of olive picking has well and truly withstood the test of time and the various winds of change that time has brought with it over the many centuries that have passed. Skills and knowledge are passed down through generations, and traditions are upheld through time.

Despite the modern world in which we're increasingly being dragged feet first into, many families along the Croatian coast, from the extreme south of Dalmatia to the Kvarner region, bring things to a standstill when ''olive time'' comes along. During that special time of year, families are bonded again and again through the picking of the olives, and the work that follows.

As Morski writes on the 22nd of March, 2019, the northern Adriatic islands of Cres and Susak were presented at the fourth International Congress on the revitalisation of terraced landscapes in the Canaries.

Dr. Goran Andlar from the Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb and Tanja Kremenić from Cres who is currently doing her PhD in Padua discussed the terraced landscape of the Croatian island of Cres, which embodies a kind of olive and sheep cooperation, writes the portal Otoci.net.

''The olive-sheep model was a very interesting component of the presentation to the public, and we take it for granted, it's natural to us. Sheep are natural fertilisers, they're natural cleansers of excess vegetation and they're bred extensively so they does not represent any sort of big extra effort for humans. Why is it so important that we preserve terraced landscapes?

If they're not used, there is a risk of erosion and a loss of fertile anthropogenic soil. They are also very important today because they represent an alternative to mechanised high-intensive agriculture and are an example of the implementation of pertinent concepts of development such as "sustainable development" or the "circular economy" in reality, but here on the ground,'' stated Tanja Kremenić.

At one congress back in 2016, which was held in Padua, the beautiful island of Cres presented this charming sheep-inspired theme with a poster, and then a one-day trip to the island of Cres was organised for the participants of the congress.

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Click here for the original article by Otoci.net